“I’ve had enough people ask me why we’re playing them,” the seventh-year Wright State coach said after Saturday’s 111-59 win over the Lima, Ohio-based Racers before a crowd of 3,130 at the Nutter Center.
“Putting together a home schedule is the most difficult thing we do. Nobody wants to come here and play us unless it’s a home-and-home. We’re left playing games like this. It’s a challenge. There are some agonizing moments.”
Freshman Brandon Noel led five Raiders in double figures with 21 points in 17:59 minutes, helping them lead by as many as 54 points while snapping a four-game losing streak and improving to 6-6. Redshirt-sophomore guard Alex Huibregtse scored a career-high 15 points in 21:11 off the bench. Oakwood product Andy Neff, a senior forward, also set career highs with nine points and 11:38 minutes.
“It was opportunity to really enjoy some time on the court,” said Neff, adding that his father is a former Wright State baseball player.
Playing time for players such as Neff is the upside to scheduling opponents such as Northwestern Ohio, now 5-9.
“It’s fun to see guys like Andy get some playing time and get some stats,” Nagy said.
Senior guard Tim Finke, who finished with a season-high 11 rebounds, paced Wright State to whopping 50-29 advantage on the boards over the Racers. Nagy was pleased with how the Raiders attended to business and didn’t overlook the small-school Racers.
“It’s not easy to play them,” he admitted. “I told the players before the game that life has more mundane moments than mountaintop moments and you’re judged on how you handle the mundane moments. I was pleased with how they handled it.”
The win was Wright State’s first since knocking off Weber State, 87-65, on Nov. 23 in the Vegas 4 event in Las Vegas. The Raiders had lost five of their last six games.
The game was Wright State’s last of the year at the Nutter Center. The Raiders are scheduled to play their final non-conference game at Miami on Thursday in a 7 p.m. local rivalry matchup before resuming Horizon League play at Northern Kentucky on Dec. 29. Wright State, which is 0-2 in league play, follows up with a game at IUPUI on Jan. 2 before facing Detroit Mercy at home on Jan. 6.
NW Ohio drops to 5-9 after its second game in fewer than 24 hours. The Racers beat Taylor University of Upland, Ind., 83-80, on Friday night.
Games against NCAA Division I teams are considered to be exhibitions for NAIA programs and don’t count on their overall won-lost records.
The Raiders never trailed after jumping out to a quick 8-0 lead.
Noel scored 12 points in 11:15 minutes and Huibregtse 10 in 9:43 to lead Wright State to a 56-22 halftime lead. The Raiders outrebounded NW Ohio, 29-13, and shot 55.8 percent (24-of-43) from the field while limiting the Racers to 27.6 percent (8-of-29). Wright State enjoyed advantages of 32-8 in points in the paint, 16-2 in points off turnovers and, led by Huibregtse, 26-8 in points off the bench.
“I would like to have gotten to the free throw line more, but we shot (58.8) percent (47-of-80) and had 19 offensive rebounds,” Nagy pointed out. “That’s exceptionally hard to do.”
The Raiders were due to get Sunday off before starting a run of three practices to get ready for the RedHawks in Oxford. Wright State’s only win on an opponent’s home court is 73-72 at Louisville on Nov. 12.
“We have to figure out how to win on the road,” Nagy said. “I know nothing about Miami. I’ll start on that (on Sunday).”
THURSDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Miami, 7 p.m., 980, 1450
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